Srilanka

Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Southern, Central, Sabaragamuwa and North-western province. Heavy falls about 100-150 mm can be expected at some places (particularly in Kaluthara, Rathnapura, Galle, Matara, Gampaha and Kegalle districts). Showers or thundershowers may occur at several places elsewhere over the island. Fairly strong gusty winds up to 50 kmph are also likely over the country, particularly in western slope of the central hilly areas and Northern, North-central and Uva province and in Puttalam, Ampara and Batticaloa districts and strong winds up to 60 kmph are also likely over the Jaffna district and Pottuvil area. There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Taranjit Singh Sandhu said jihadi ideology needs to be isolated and eliminated, as it is a threat to regional security and global peace. &Terrorism and radicalism pose a collective threat to humanity. The recent attack in Sri Lanka is not just against Sri Lanka. Terrorism anywhere in the world attacks the conscience of whole humanity,&he said.

Speaking at the high level panel on ‘Setting the Standards for Prevention of and Response to SGBV: progress in addressing operational challenges&, chaired by UNFPA Executive Director Natalie Kanem, Minister Marapana focused on the preventive measures taken by Sri Lankalaw enforcement authorities in collaboration with Civil Society and community leaders, to address the issue, especially in the camps for the Internally Displaced Persons in the North and East. He outlined the legal framework currently in place to combat the challenge and underlined the deep rooted socio-cultural constraints that often obstructed effective reporting of instances of such abuse and violence. Sri Lanka was one of the first Member States to sign the UN Secretary GeneralVoluntary Compact to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN, including in UN peacekeeping Missions. Sri Lanka had also contributed to the Secretary GeneralTrust Fund for the victims of sexual exploitation and abuse in September 2017.

The Parliament has approved the amended Bill increasing the fine imposed for 7 types of traffic offences to Rs 25,000.Motor Traffic (Amendment) Bill was taken up for debate during yesterdayparliamentary session.

The relevant Bill was presented to the Parliament by State Minister Gayantha Karunatilake yesterday (07).Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Ashoka Abeysinghe commencing the debate on the Bill, stated that increasing the fines expect to minimize the traffic violations..Opening the debate on the second reading of the Motor Traffic Amendment Bill, Abeysinghe said drivers who exceed a speed limit by a 20%, will be imposed a fine between Rs.3000 to Rs. 5000. &The drivers who exceed a speed limit by 20% to 30% will be fined between Rs.5000 to 10,000. When speed limit would be exceeded by 30%-50%, the fine shall be between Rs.10,000 to 15,000. When a driver exceeds the speed limit by 50%, they will be fined Rs. 25,000.& he said.